Carntyne man spared jail for causing death of woman he hit with car

A dad who caused the death of a woman as she tried to cross the road has been spared jail.

63 year-old William Gorma hit 50 year-old Catriona Brown before she was struck by another car on Cumbernauld Road in Dennistoun, Glasgow.

The mum-of-two was taken to hospital but died from her injuries.

Gorman, from Carntyne, in Glasgow's east end pled guilty at the city's sheriff court to causing Mrs Brown's death by driving carelessly on February 3, 2017.

Sheriff Paul Crozier handed Gorman a community payback order with the condition he has to carry out 300 hours unpaid work and disqualified him from driving for two years.

The court heard Gorman “has no intention of ever driving again” but if he does, must sit an extended driving test.

Sheriff Crozier said: “This was a tragic incident that resulted in the death of Mrs Brown and all the heartache and trauma that a life cut short causes.”

He added: “It's acknowledged by the Crown that whilst you caused the collision by failing to react, Mrs Brown had in fact began to cross the road when it was unsafe to so.

“It should have been obvious to her that she would have been unable to cross the roadway without stopping.”

The court heard around 7.45pm on Mrs Brown parked her car on the road and attempted to cross.

Procurator fiscal depute John Adams said: “Mrs Brown walked into the roadway, crossing the carriageway until she reached the middle of the road.

“Mrs Brown was prevented from crossing by a line of slow moving traffic so stood in the middle of the road waiting for a gap in the traffic.”

He said Gorman drove towards Mrs Brown who didn't move from her spot on the road and didn't look towards him.

Mr Adams continued: “Gorman then struck Mrs Brown from behind, with the front offside corner of his vehicle, throwing her into the air.

“Mrs Brown was thrown into the path of Vauxhall Astra.

“The driver had no time to react and lower the front of his vehicle collided with Mrs Brown.”

Other drivers and passers by stopped to help and emergency services were contacted.

Mrs Brown was unresponsive and in cardiac arrest.

Medics battled to save her while she was taken to Glasgow Royal Infirmary but she was pronounced dead at 8.16pm.

A post mortem confirmed her cause of death was chest injuries due to the collision.

Gorman identified himself as the driver of his car and provided a negative breath test.

On September 13, last year, he was interviewed by police and gave a mostly no comment answers.

Crash investigation officers wrote a report that said Gorman caused the accident by failing to react to Mrs Brown on the road in the eight seconds he would have had.

The court heard the investigators said Mrs Brown began to cross the carriageway “when it wasn't safe to do so” and “failed to observe or react to the accused's vehicle”.

Defence QC Thomas Ross said: “He has no intention of ever driving again such has been the impact of this incident upon him.”

He said Gorman accepts his driving fell below the required standard